


Open-Minded

by SallyStringBass



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Mystery, Suspense, mostly anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 03:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20941766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SallyStringBass/pseuds/SallyStringBass
Summary: “This is very curious. Logan, would you mind explaining what’s happening here?”“I…” Logan licked his lips, hesitating to speak. “...I don’t know.”Sound advice: do not be so open-minded that your brain falls out.





	1. Realization

The first thing Logan noticed when he woke up was the pounding headache. 

Headaches can have many causes. Logan racked his brain for common examples: a lack of sleep, too much sleep, hunger, a lack of exercise, too much exercise, and overbearing noise were common origins of headaches. Thomas slept well last night and had eaten a healthy dinner a few hours before he went to bed. He’d been drinking plenty of water, and he even went to the gym a few times this week. Not to mention the apartment was usually quiet when Thomas wasn’t recording a video, so it was never too loud in their home. 

What else could cause a headache? Anxiety sometimes did, but Virgil wasn’t even in the room. Then again... neither were Roman or Patton. 

Logan blinked, coming to a second realization. He was the only one in the living room. Logan was scarcely the only Side Thomas summoned. Usually, he was only called in to help mediate fights between the others. But on this early morning, Logan was the only Side in the room. As a matter of fact... he was the only one in the room, period. Even Thomas Sanders wasn’t with him. This was odd, to say the least. 

“Patton?” Logan called, frowning. He didn’t trust himself to summon them manually; he usually ended up pulling them by their hair. Instead, he resorted to calling for them, hoping he’d be able to reach them. “Patton, come here please.” 

“I’m coming!” a voice called from somewhere in the apartment. A flash of blue bounded inside from the back door. Logan flinched as the door slammed shut, his head flaring up in pain. “Logan! You’re awake!” 

“Indeed,” Logan huffed, rubbing his temples. “What were you doing outside?” 

“Looking for Roman. I can’t find him.” 

That caused Logan to pause. Roman was easy to find, given how extra he could be. “...Did you try summoning him?” 

Patton shrugged. “Yup. Couldn’t get a hold of him.” Patton wandered over to his spot in the room, leaning against the wall. “I can’t find Virgil either. It’s like they de-SIDE-ded to sleep in today! ZING!!”

Groan. “Not the time, Patton. This is serious.”

“AHA!” a voice shouted. Logan and Patton quickly turned to the basement door, watching the handle jiggle itself around. The door was then flung open, and a very triumphant-looking Roman stepped out. “No cellar can contain me! I’ve bested you, foul dungeon!” He drew his sword and waved it around for good measure before taking his spot in the living room. 

“There you are, Roman,” Logan signed. “We’ve been trying to summon you. Where were you?” 

“Cloaked by the curse of eternal night, lost in the dungeons of dust and mould…”

“Yes yes, you were in the basement,” Logan groaned. “Why weren’t you in your room? Or here with us?”

Roman looked just as exasperated as Logan. “I don’t know! I just woke up in that dank, musty corridor. Ask Thomas, why don’t you?” 

“Gladly.” Logan turned his attention to the centre of the room. “Thomas?” 

That was when Logan was struck with realization number three. 

Patton blinked. “Uh… Where’s Thomas?”

“That’s rather peculiar…” Logan paced around the room, thinking deeply. “Shouldn’t he be right here?”

“Maybe he’s asleep,” Roman piped. He practically vaulted over the railing and bolted up the stairs. “THOMAS!! WAKE UP!!” 

Logan shook his head, although Roman had already left. “That doesn’t follow. We’re Thomas’s sides—we’re a part of him. There’s no possibility of us being present while he is not.” He groaned, feeling the pounding pain in his forehead once again. “And please keep it down, Roman,” he growled, raising his voice. 

Roman’s footsteps thumped away upstairs, and the sound of objects being tossed about could be heard from the living room. Logan sat down on the couch, frowning. “I hope Thomas is alright.”

“Thomas is fine! Probably!” He took a deep breath, plastering on a wide grin. “We should just hold out for a little bit. Maybe Thomas will show up and he can explain what’s happening.” 

The thumping upstairs came to a halt, and Roman hurried back down the stairs. “No sign of Thomas. This is very curious... Logan, would you mind explaining what’s happening here?” 

“I…” Logan licked his lips, hesitating to speak. “...I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re LOGIC. You’re the know-it-all.” 

“I’d say this situation defies logic,” Logan huffed, although it pained him to admit it. “If Thomas isn’t here, then… then how are WE here?”

“Maybe it’s a prank?” Patton piped, looking a tad unsure. “Should we… wait...?”

Roman huffed. “I… I don’t know.”

A heavy silence befell the room. Patton squirmed uncomfortably against the wall. Roman hummed, stroking his chin in thought. Logan didn’t budge, instead opting to stare into space as he thought. They all silently agreed that none of this made any sort of sense. The sides could only be conjured up by Thomas; they were only figments of his imagination. How could they possibly even exist without Thomas present? 

Logan ran through all the different explanations he could think of. 

This couldn’t be a dream; dreams were Roman’s doing, and Roman himself didn’t know what was happening. And even if it was a dream, Logan wouldn’t be experiencing any of it.

Could this be one of Deceit’s tricks? Maybe the Dark Side was using an illusion to hide Thomas from them. But then… this trick was a bit obvious, wasn’t it? And besides, what would Deceit have to gain from doing this? 

Logan was, frankly, stumped. And it didn’t seem like the others were faring much better. 

“I… I believe Patton is right,” Logan finally said. “Perhaps we should wait for a bit until further notice.” 

Roman nodded. Patton nodded. And they waited.


	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternately titled "tom boy is back and nothing is ok: the chapter"

They didn’t have to wait for long. 

Half an hour of pondering and worrying later, the front door opened. The three perked up immediately, and Patton was already rushing to the door. “THOMAS!!” he cried, tears in his eyes. “Where were you?! We thought you were doing a video, but we couldn’t find you, and Logan said that wasn’t possible, so we waited here for you… and… you…” 

Patton’s rambling slowed to a stop. 

“Thomas… You look terrible.” 

It was true. Thomas looked absolutely horrid. Bags hung limply under his eyes, and his scleras were bloodshot and red. Thomas himself was trembling underneath his jacket, despite the fact that it wasn’t cold outside. And to top it all off, with each step he took, he looked like he was about to pass out and fall to the floor. 

Roman gasped, throwing a hand against his face in his shock. “Thomas! Why, you—”

“Go away,” Thomas muttered, pushing past. His movements were sluggish but tense—he moved like a man fearing for his life. “I gotta get to my room.” 

Logan blinked. “Your… room? Thomas, the matter of your disappearance seems a bit more pressing, don’t you thi—”

A fuming, furious glare from Thomas shut Logan’s mouth in seconds. “My room,” Thomas growled lowly. “Now.”

This sort of anger was completely uncharacteristic of Thomas. Logan found himself wondering if Thomas had ever been this enraged. “I—”

“Um…” Patton gently pulled Logan away from Thomas. “Maybe we should let him rest.” 

“Rest?!” Roman shouted. “But what about—”

Thomas quickly blocked his ears with his hands, cringing at the loud voice. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

Patton let out a resigned sigh. He treaded carefully towards Thomas, offering his host a gentle smile. “It’s okay, kiddo. You can go to your room. We’ll talk later.” He gave Thomas a small nudge guiding him through the doorway. The moral side escorted Thomas through the house and up the stairs, with Roman and Logan trailing behind a fair distance. “Here we go. Do you need anything else?”

Thomas appeared like he was going to shake his head, but stopped himself short. Instead, he stood still for what felt like five whole minutes. “...the door,” he mumbled. 

“Sorry, what was that?”

“Lock the door. Don’t let me out.”

The answer took Patton aback. “Lock you in? A—are you sure?”

“Lock me in and don’t let me out, no matter what I say.” Thomas looked almost pleading now, his eyes gone soft. “Please. Trust me.” 

Patton looked extremely conflicted for a minute. “I… okay,” he finally said, nodding. “I’ll slip some food under the door later. Get some sleep, alrighty?” 

“Okay.” Thomas shambled into his room like a ghost, collapsing on the bed. Once they heard the soft snoring coming from the bed, Patton quietly shut the door. 

The three each took a step back, staring at the closed door. The house was completely silent again until Patton spoke up. 

“Roman... grab a chair from the kitchen, please.”

“You can’t be serious,” Logan hissed. “We can’t lock Thomas in his room.”

“This is only temporary. As soon as we figure out what’s wrong with him, we can let him out.” Patton certainly looked confident in his words, but his cracking voice betrayed his uncertainty. The moral side was never that good at hiding his feelings, Logan thought. 

“I’m…” Roman bit his lip. “This is so bizarre. I have a bad feeling about all this.” 

“Me too,” Patton added. 

Logan huffed. “I don’t have feelings… but... yes, something is definitely very wrong. We’ll plot our next course of action while Thomas gets his rest.” 

Roman left to get the chair to block Thomas’s door. Patton and Logan took a seat in the hallway, leaning against the drywall. Patton glanced at Logan, his eyes watering a bit. “Is Thomas going to be okay, Lo?”

Logan buried his face in his hands, exhaling deeply. “I truly wish I knew, Patton.”


End file.
